Clashes feared as protesters defy ban on Moscow rally

A WAVE of violent protest and civil disobedience in Moscow is expected to follow the almost inevitable coronation of Vladimir Putin as president for a third term in today’s Russian election.

Opposition activists have vowed to defy a ban on a staging a rally tomorrow in front of the Lubyanka, the headquarters of the former KGB.

In a thinly veiled threat Putin warned his critics not to hold any unauthorised protests. In the past police have always beaten or detained opponents who have taken to the streets without permission.

Moscow city authorities agreed to give anti-Putin demonstrators an alternative venue but some of the more militant activists have said they will gather outside the Lubyanka anyway.

While most will attend the officially sanctioned demonstration, others said they would stage an unofficial rally beneath the Kremlin walls close to the site of a pro-Putin youth rally, raising fears of clashes between the